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V(<&  LINCOLN'S  ELLSWORTH  LETTER 


ALEXANDER  GOLDSTEIN 


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ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 

(Meserve  No.  35) 


LINCOLN'S 

Ellsworth    Better 


Privately  Printed 

NEW    YORK 

1916 


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FOREWORD. 

ON  May  24th,  1 861 ,  a  month  and  a  half 
after  Sumter  surrendered  and  nearly  two 
months  before  the  first  battle  of  Bull  Run,  Pres 
ident  Lincoln's  friend,  Colonel  Ephraim  Elmer 
Ellsworth  was  shot  in  Alexandria,  Virginia,  by 
Jackson,  the  proprietor  of  the  Marshall  House, 
after  the  impetuous  young  man  had  torn  down 
a  confederate  flag  from  the  top  of  the  building. 
His  body  was  taken  to  the  White  House  and 
lay  in  state  in  the  East  Room.  He  was  the  first 
officer  killed  in  the  War  of  the  Rebellion.  The 
President  on  the  following  day  wrote  a  letter  of 
sympathy  to  the  sorrowing  father  and  mother. 

Ellsworth  was  a  New  York  boy.  At  the 
age  of  twenty-two  he  was  Adjutant-General  of 
the  State  of  Illinois.  In  1859  he  studied  law 
in  Lincoln's  office  in  Springfield.  He  organized 
in  Chicago  the  military  company  known  as 
Ellsworth's  Zouaves,  and  in  1  860  toured  the 
country  holding  competitive  drills  with  various 
military  organizations.  When  Lincoln  came  to 
Washington  Ellsworth  accompanied  him,  and 
in  April  in  New  York  he  organized  and,  although 
but  twenty-four,  became  the  Colonel  of  the  1  1  th 


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New  York  Infantry,  known  as  the  Fire  Zouaves, 
as  the  regiment  was  recruited  principally  from 
the  Fire  Department  of  New  York  City. 

This  beautiful  tribute  is  perhaps  the  most 
touching  of  all  the  letters  written  by  Lincoln. 
He  was  writing  of  a  man  whom  he  knew  and 
loved.  The  letter  does  not  reach  the  lofty  tone 
of  that  to  Mrs.  Bixby  of  Boston,  or  the  Gettys 
burg  address,  but  in  the  choice  of  fitting  words 
to  stricken  parents  regarding  a  son  and  personal 
friend,  few  letters  have  ever  been  written  that 
may  compare  with  it. 

By  the  courtesy  of  Mr.  Judd  Stewart,  in 
whose  notable  collection  of  Lincolniana  is  the 
original  letter,  a  fac-simile  is  shown  here. 

The  photograph  of  Lincoln  is  printed  di 
rectly  from  a  negative,  believed  to  be  the  origi 
nal,  made  by  C.  S.  German,  in  Springfield, 
Illinois,  early  in  1 86 1 ,  just  before  the  President 
elect  went  to  Washington.  That  of  Ellsworth 
is  printed  directly  from  the  original  negative 
made  by  M.  B.  Brady,  probably  during  the  time 
when  the  Fire  Zouaves  were  being  organized. 

F.  H.  M. 

New  York,  February  15,  1916. 


THE  LETTER. 


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E.  ELMER  ELLSWORTH 

Col.  11th  N.Y.  Infantry 


THE  QUILL  CLUB 

OF  NEW  YORK 
1915-1916 

President 
CHARLES  L.  GOODELL 

V ice-President 
FREDERICK  HILL  MESERVE 

Treasurer 
EDWIN  COLES  DUSENBURY 

Secretary 
CHARLES  PROSPERO  FAGNANI 

Assistant  Secretary 
THOMAS  J.  HARRIS 

The  Executive  Committee 

THE  OFFICERS  AND 

RUFUS  P.  JOHNSTON 

ALFRED  R.  KIMBALL 

REUBEN  LESLIE  MAYNARD 

CHARLES  P.  TINKER 


Two  hundred  and  fifty  copies  are 
printed  for  The  Quill  Club  of  New 
York  upon  the  occasion  of  its  Lin- 
coin  Meeting,  February  15th,  1916. 


14  DAY  USE 

RETURN  TO  DESK  FROM  WHICH  BORROWED 
LOAN  DEPT. 

This  book  is  due  on  the  last  date  stamped  below,  or 

on  the  date  to  which  renewed. 
Renewed  books  are  subject  to  immediate  recall. 


LD  21A-50m-8,'57 
(C8481slO)476B 


General  Library 

University  of  California 

Berkeley 


